Sushi Ota

I first had sushi maybe three years ago. I was pretty apprehensive about eating raw fish. Plus, I refused to eat any kind of seafood until well into college, because I thought fish, crab, or any other thing that came out of water was disgusting. It's downright not true. Plus, there are tons of cooked options at sushi joints, and servers are more than happy to answer any questions.

Since moving to Fort, my neighbor/co-worker/friend Lisa, reintroduced me by obsessing over it's deliciousness. On top of that, I travel to the west coast more often, and they have fresh shit everywhere. And, it's absolutely tasty.

Because I'm hanging out in San Diego for the week, I figured I'd take advantage of #1.) Free food, and #2.) west coast fresh seafood. But the potential downside? Eating by yourself.

Now, you might be thinking, "Duh Erica, just eat some McDonalds. Go to In-N-Out Burger. Order room service."

I say to you: "NO!.. Don't be ridiculous. I can eat whatever I want. I have waitstaff come to my beckon call. I can order whatever suites my fancy. I can drink wine. FO' FREE." And so on, so forth.

Besides, I've learned to deal with myself, while eating... with myself. My companion? A good book.

So, on this warm, breezy evening in San Diego, I ventured to the place I had scoped out and anticipated for the entire trip: Sushi Ota.


I read reviews on my favorite restaurant site, tripadvisor.com. (Tangent: I love love love writing about food and voicing my opinion on what I think people should try out in a particular city. This site is the perfect outlet to shamelessly advertise the places I deem worthy of your dime.) That's where I found out Sushi Ota was rated number one on a list of thousands of restaurants in the San Diego area.

Before venturing to Sushi Ota, I went through their specialities, and found an awesome site to decipher that crazy Japanese terminology. I took a look at the menu, knowing that I wanted to try something with hamachi (yellowtail), hirami (flatfish, like flounder) or maguro (tuna!)... but I also like getting specialty rolls, because the sushi chefs usually make some pretty rockin' combinations.

With some research (on this site, and subsequently, others...) I found out that this is the place that Japanese-Americans go for authentic Japanese cuisine. I also learned not to be put out by the fact that the business itself was in a strip mall, or that it was small with minimal decor. That doesn't affect how amazing the food is.

I also found out it's best to make a reservation. So I did. For one.

A two-block stroll from my hotel, I ventured over about 6 PM (PST time -- a little late for my usual din).

My server, Saori, took my order for some water and a glass of Pino Grigio.

When you order sushi, the hostess gives you a menu, a sheet of paper and a pencil, so you can mark down which sushi rolls you want.

I started with a bowl of miso soup. I usually get miso, because it's a great starter that puts me in the mood for sushi. I think it's a vegatable base. Add some tofu, scallions and seaweed, and voila!

Not five minutes into my soup, and my sushi came prepared and plated -- on what looked like a raised wooden cutting board.

I ordered a tempura roll and maguro sushi. Tempura means deep-fried. Which means, tempura means delicious. This roll had tempura shrimp, with crab, avocado and cucumber. The maguro sushi came as two pieces of raw lean tuna on top of balls of rice. (In Japan, "sushi" actually refers to the rice part of what you're eating. Sashimi is the raw fish by itself.)

When plated, the chef always makes sure to put a dollup of wasabi and a pile of fresh ginger on the sushi plate. I love eating ginger inbetween each piece of sushi. Supposedly, it cleans your palate.

After enjoying this wide range of delicious foods, I decided to venture out and try something new. I decided on dessert, and chose green tea ice cream.

Saori took the order, but then asked if I wanted mochi. "What's that?"

She explained that the green tea ice cream would just have rice cake wrapped around it.

Sign me up.

Three minutes later, out came a square plate, with a rounded ball of what looked like uncooked sugar cookie dough with a hint of green, served with a tiny, three-fingered fork.

In retrospect, I'd let it sit for about 5-10 minutes to warm up... it brings out the flavor.

But my god, it was fantastic. The inside ice cream tasted like cold, frozen, sweetened green tea -- Hansen's specialty flavor of ice cream? -- wrapped in a sweet, doughy layer of sugar.

I sat and read for another 20 minutes, finishing up my glass of wine. I'd say this place definitely stands up to the hype. So, here's my shameless promotion of a great restaurant, with exceptional service and fantastic food. Bon Apetite.